Something Special
by Nathania Lynn
Summary: This is a story about a girl named Hope who went through a tramatic event as a young girl and is going to take a journey to get over it. This is just the first part... more to come later!
1. Chapter 1

Hope walked through the dense forest, the trees were hanging so low she had to move the branches and duck to get under them. It was starting to get dark and although she was alone, she was definitely not afraid. Being afraid wasn't part of Hope's nature. She'd been raised to be brave and not get scared. Hope's long black hair was braided over her shoulder and she couldn't hear anything in the woods, not even her own footsteps. Since she had been little her father had taken her out hunting and naturally she kept her hunters instincts sharp and she kept her feet quiet. Her bright green eyes were scanning the forest in front of her.

Hope finally caught a glimpse of the fading light through the trees. She was quickly reaching the edge of the woods and she smiled halfway as she crossed over the tree line and into the large meadow. She looked around and took her normal path through that she practically had forced into the ground. The grasses were all bent and broken and the grass beside it bent away from her path. She was the only one who ever came to this meadow, but it was the best place for her to come and think.

She was just reaching the middle of the meadow. She tended to always get to this spot and overwork her brain and her emotions. As she took another step she felt the tears springing to her eyes. She took in a deep breath, trying to keep her emotions in check. But, she stumbled backwards as her eyes closed. She hated when this happened but naturally she couldn't stop it.

That night had been dark, she was probably about five. She was in the meadow with her parents but they had set up a picnic for them and her older brother. Her brother, Anton, sat down with her and wrapped an arm around her as they waited for their parents to come back with the other basket of food. It had been a tradition of theirs to go on a late night picnic once a week during the summer. However, Hope knew something was wrong when she only heard one pair of footsteps returning. Anton had noticed it too and stood up. He had told her to crawl into the grass and just waited until she was far enough in before stepping into the man's way. The man had stopped in his tracks. Hope had peeking through the grass and watched silently, her eyes were wide. That was probably the only time she'd been truly afraid.

"What do you want?" Anton asked quietly, his voice threatening and it was surprising to Hope because she'd never heard her brother speak like that. He was standing tall and he was showing off his full height and his muscles which were large.

"Well, well, well. I guess I'm getting a double prize then. Where's the girl. You're parents knew she was only going to survive so long. She's special... And we want her. No one will get hurt so long as you tell me where she is." the man said. He was strong and just as tall as her brother. His voice was husky and Hope could smell the alcohol radiating from his clothes from where she was, which was a good 10 feet away. |||||||-HAS read this part|||||||

Anton stepped forward slowly, assessing the man in front of him. Quietly he reached into his belt with hardly bringing notice to it and he pulled out his knife. He then kicked up a piece of wood which made the man jump as he stumbled backwards. As Anton caught the piece of wood he flipped his knife out and started to carve it.

"Now why would I just let you take my sister from us? She's just a little girl. She doesn't even know what she's capable of yet" Anton whispers, deathly close to being silent with his words. His only thought was what could he do protect his sister from this man and then what had this man done to his parents.

"Oh boy, you don't even know what you're getting yourself caught up in right now. It would be best if you just let me take your sister. If she's with us we can help her train and reach her full potential. I really don't want to have to hurt you and then search for her, but I will if I have to" the man hisses, regaining his composure from when he had been stumbling backwards.

"I can't let you take my sister. We can teach her ourselves. Her path has been chosen for her, and I intend on her to follow that path" Anton replies quickly.

The man suddenly was fed up with discussing the matter and lurched forward towards Anton. As soon as the man attacked, Anton tried his best to fight him off but because of the alcohol in the man's system, this gave him extra strength. Soon enough Anton was pinned to the ground and was being tied up. The whole time he had fear in his eyes and just looked at Hope. He was praying that her hiding spot was the best thing that she had. It was the only thing they had left to save her.

As soon as the man had Anton tied up he looked around in the lower grasses for the girl. If he went back to his bosses again without her, it would be his own head on a platter. This girl was everything to their plans and if they didn't have her then they were surely going to be destined for failure.

Hope silently crawled farther into the tall grasses, she quickly made her way towards the woods and once she was there she got up and sprinted. She found the highest tree with the best foot hold. She knew this tree well because Anton and her had always climbed it together. She started to climb it, she fit right in with the decor of the woods, she was wearing black pants and a dark green shirt. Her mother had braided her hair today too, she quickly undid her braid to hide her very light complexion which was the one thing that stood out in the darkness. Once she was high enough she stopped climbing and just sat there silently. Her parents always told her that if this happened that this was the tree she was supposed to wait in. So she knew she had to follow their directions.

The man wandered through the woods and just kept going, knowing he couldn't go back he wandered off into the woods and never showed up again. Hope sat there and watched him go and then after a few hours she climbed down and ran back to her brother. He had heard her coming back in her haste to get to him. Hope untied him quickly and they packed up their stuff and ran back to the car to find both of her parents tied up as well. They helped them get out and they quickly packed up and drove off towards the only safe place they knew, Stoicheion et Meta.

Not long after that night her parents became masters at the school. The masters that had originated there had asked for help. Anton and Hope being the son and daughter of masters at Stoicheion et Meta had its advantages. Hope had grown up in the school and her brother was now graduated to an Apprentice in his element of Air, like their mother. Hope was in Earth, like their father. She knew she wan an Earth manipulator from the time she knew of her families powers, shortly after that night.

Standing in the meadow she continued to think back to the night she almost lost her family. She now knew why she hadn't been allowed to start training right when they got to the school. Training took energy and strength. Neither of which she had at five years old. She woke up nightly from nightmares about that night. They had lasted for almost two years. She started her path training in the Element of Earth, or as referred to at Stoicheion et Meta, Gaia. Hope was now sixteen.


	2. Chapter 2

Finally recovering from her daydream nightmare that happened to be her past she opened her eyes. She was sitting down in the meadow now. She was still alone and she was still crying. Thinking back to it, that night seemed like it had been yesterday. Now a beautiful young girl of sixteen, she realized she'd been through a whole lot more than most girls her age. This was the age of driving alone and finally getting freedom but not for Hope.

Hope was special, she had a gift not many did have. Not only did she train as a Gaia manipulator but her parents had talked to the headmaster about her training under the Spirit element. This element was best known for being able to connect with spirits, sense auras and being able to control the other three elements as well. Hope had begun training with her Spirit element about two months ago. Naturally it was a lot of tedious work and she had been prepared for it. She always worked hard to impress her parents and to follow in the footsteps of her older brother.

Hope's training had always been rough but quick paced. When she was seven her parents decided to start teaching her the basics of Gaia. Her father taught her how to manipulate the earth to produce grasses and small plants, mostly survival skills. He had taught her how to grow plants quickly that had edible berries and grasses and leaves. She knew this was in case they ever got separated again.

Her brother had even started to train her, but his training was physical. Ever since he'd protected her in the meadow eleven years ago, she knew he would be pushing her harder. Hope would go for runs with Anton that would range from five miles to twelve miles. They would go to the gym and lift weights together and talk. It was an experience that they shared, that night. They had been responsible for fending for themselves and both of them had grown up quickly that night. They always had a lot to talk about during their weight training and their core conditioning however, on their runs they would branch off and listen to music to keep themselves motivated. Hope usually ended up running with her music at least, Anton usually just ran. Her brother was strong. He knew that Hope needed to be able to defend herself in the future though, and he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that happened.

Hope enjoyed the time with her brother though. Everyone thought she hated it, but the more time she spent with her brother the more encouraging her prospectives seemed to be. She was excelling in training and she was having a fun time doing so. She didn't have a lot of friends at the school but Hope didn't mind. Friends meant a distraction from the potential dangers at hand. She spent her time training and being with her family. The physical training led to her becoming quicker and having more stamina when she was working on her elemental training, she didn't mind that at all. This would all change soon. Her whole world would change and she'd need people around her, people she could trust and learn to grow alongside. Soon, for Hope anyway, the people beside her wouldn't be her competition anymore, they'd be her support system. If they failed, so did she.


End file.
